DEEP ENGLISH Poem by Tsitsi Jaji

Walk through the edges,
circumvent centre
(circle the square, so to speak)

Having parted ways with the crossroad,
take each path offered, and unite into
a thousand thousand fragments

Stutter in the tongues of men and angels.
Spit out the truth:
How the Honorific Title ‘Mad Woman' Was Won.

Destitute, discover the ancestral home, and
sit down to fast sumptuously at the
high table.

Comforted, stare into the mirror
that divided all these years,
the mirror that melts in the mouth.

Now, speak clearly.